The Walk-in Closet Safehouse CH16
Chapter 16: A Misunderstanding
By the time Cui Ye and her group finally made it back to their residential complex, the sky wasn't entirely dark yet. The news of their safe return spread rapidly through the community chat, causing the friend request list on He Fangzhou’s interface to instantly pile up into three digits.
With the first batch of people having successfully scouted the path, the other residents could no longer sit still. However, as the saying goes, "Once you pass this village, there won't be another inn". Judging by He Fangzhou’s demeanor, he had no intentions of venturing out again anytime soon.
Almost every single person who had gone out this time had sustained injuries. Although they had found supplies, earned gold coins, and even gathered some intel regarding the game, the resulting increase in their infection levels could not be ignored. The faces of the three most severely injured individuals had already swollen up on one side, and their wounds showed faint signs of festering.
Even though the four medical students in He Fangzhou’s crew had administered emergency treatment, the continuous exposure to the rain coupled with intense physical exertion caused their conditions to steadily worsen along the way. Fortunately, there were two pharmacies on the commercial street, providing a more than sufficient supply of anti-inflammatory drugs and bandages.
Even so, it still took a toll on their condition during the return journey. Had it not been for the presence of two talent-users within this eight-person squad, the team inevitably would have suffered casualties.
* * *
The corridor of Building 11.
Cui Ye had paddled all the way back, staying vigilant against water monster blockades to emerge completely unscathed. She had even safely navigated an encounter with a veteran player attempting to rob and silence them. Yet, as she climbed up to the fifteenth floor with a bursting backpack slung over her shoulders, Cui Ye felt as though she wasn't far from death.
Inside her backpack was the crate of instant noodles she’d found, various medicines that might come in handy, and supplies handed over by Wang Lei and Wang Wei. They wanted to thank her for stepping in to help multiple times—otherwise, they might not have made it back alive.
To Cui Ye, helping them was merely an incidental gesture. In their eyes, however, the [Linen Necklace] was a consumable item with limited durability—one less use with every activation. Only Cui Ye knew that it was an attribute item pulled directly from her [Walk-in Closet Safehouse], possessing zero durability loss whatsoever. She hadn't expected them to share the supplies they had risked their lives for just to thank her, so naturally, she accepted it gladly.
With great effort, she finally reached her rental apartment, only to find the anti-theft security door standing wide open and the floor entirely covered in footprints. Cui Ye instinctively reached for her boning knife. Following the footprints with her eyes, she looked toward her bedroom door, which had also been flung open. Someone had been inside. The bedroom door lock was warped out of shape, yet the apartment's main security door bore no signs of a break-in—giving its handle a gentle turn, she confirmed the lock was completely undamaged.
Her talent didn't trigger, and no danger notification appeared. Cui Ye’s eyes swept across the other two tightly shut bedroom doors, but her grip on the boning knife remained tight. It wasn't until a flurry of footsteps echoed from the floor above that she slowly turned, quietly slipping back toward the stairwell.
She saw a hunched, shifty shadow materialize against the stairwell wall. The person hadn't realized their movements were already exposed and was still hiding there, carefully shifting their steps. 'An ambush?'
Just as Cui Ye was about to slip her heavy backpack off, a head poked out from around the corner of the stairs. Across a dozen or so steps, their eyes locked. The person froze for a split second before jumping up, calling out happily, "Cui Ye!"
The person was Wang Zhiqiu. She had just seen the news in the group chat that Cui Ye’s group had made it back safely. The chat even featured a blurry photo taken from the upper floors; though grainy, you could clearly count eight people upon zooming in. Once she confirmed Cui Ye was safe, she had waited in the stairwell, terrified of missing her.
Wang Zhiqiu quickly filled her in on everything she had overheard while hiding in her bedroom two hours ago. She explained that a new group called the Dawn Guild had just cropped up in Building 11. Earlier that morning, Liu Yue had tried to borrow gold coins from her. When she was rejected, Liu Yue turned right around and brought the men from the guild inside to plunder the place.
"They went into your room but couldn't find any supplies. The guys Liu Yue brought along even started getting violent, but the very first blood-curdling scream I heard definitely came from a man. I thought Liu Yue had been driven to desperation, causing the whole pack of dogs to bite each other. But as I kept listening, something felt off. I bet that ghostly wailing and screaming could be heard by the entire building. I waited until they all left before I dared pack my bags and move upstairs. I only came out from Grandma Zhao’s place to wait for you after seeing the messages in the group chat."
Wang Zhiqiu paused, checking over her shoulder toward the upper stairs as if expecting someone to loom out of the shadows. She lowered her voice to a tense whisper before continuing.
"I suspect someone else had already broken into your room beforehand. Not only did they steal your things, but they also beat up and chased away the people Liu Yue brought. Right now, that person might still be inside your room. For safety's sake, we should just move over to Grandma Zhao’s place."
At any rate, Wang Zhiqiu didn't dare go back to live there. Who knew if that character hiding in the dark would pull a midnight ambush, or if that gang of bandits from the Dawn Guild would circle back with more people to retaliate?
Cui Ye listened quietly, having fully grasped the situation. She also realized the other party had completely misunderstood. Her room was empty because she had cleared it out herself, and the thing that had beaten and chased those people away wasn't a person at all—it was her Safe House. Since she planned to take the [Linen Necklace] with her, she had purchased a [Spiked Mace] from the game shop before heading out, equipping it to her offensive-type Safe House as a replacement. It seemed the results were quite decent.
Handing her heavy backpack over to her roommate, Cui Ye signaled for her to head upstairs first, promising she would be right back. Wang Zhiqiu wanted to stop her but knew she couldn't dissuade her. She stood at the stairwell entrance holding the bag, wracked with apprehension, until she saw Cui Ye return entirely unscathed a mere ten seconds later, clutching her toiletries. Only then did she finally let out a sigh of relief.
Hearing the commotion, Grandma Zhao pressed her face against the peephole. First glance: 'That profiteer named Cui had actually come back with all her limbs completely intact?' Second glance: 'What a massive, bulging backpack! There must definitely be a share for her family of four inside!' She threw the door open decisively.
Clutching her toiletries, Cui Ye stood in front of Unit 1601. She had barely knocked twice before the door swung wide. Looking up, she found Grandma Zhao's face shoved right into hers. Had she not recognized the old woman in time, the [Linen Necklace] would have already been looped around her neck.
"Next time, try not to jump out and scare people," Cui Ye offered as a piece of sincere advice. Fortunately, her eyesight was sharp and her hands steady; otherwise, Unit 1601 would be down a family member.
Hearing those words, the smile on Grandma Zhao’s face froze. The curse words that had leapt to her lips were forced right back down her throat. 'For the sake of that massive backpack, hmph! What an ill-mannered brat.'
Inside the apartment, Old Man Qin came out leaning on his walking stick, followed by his two grandchildren. The moment the two little ones saw Cui Ye, they immediately swarmed around her like puppies. Although they didn't know how their grandmother managed to persuade this person to send them food every single day, both of them knew exactly who gave them the snacks they ate every time.
As a few days had passed, the spoiled brats seemed to have grown significantly more sensible, no longer behaving as rudely as before. At the very least, when they saw her and Wang Zhiqiu, they knew to greet them and say hello before heading straight for the backpack.
Cui Ye: "..." They have manners, but not many.
She felt a tug on the hem of her shirt; it was the little girl. Compared to her twin brother, the older sister was far better behaved. However, her eyes were also flitting anxiously between Cui Ye and the bag.
According to Grandma Zhao’s logic, as long as her granddaughter acted a bit sweeter, said the right things, and played nice, she’d always manage to coax a few extra snacks out of people. Now that these two were moving in, shouldn't they pay a little something for lodging anyway? Her grandson had been craving that self-heating hotpot for ages.
Grandma Zhao might have been useless at everything else, but she possessed a knack for petty cunning. Knowing that Cui Ye was completely indifferent toward her precious grandson, she brought her granddaughter along instead, which always yielded "three melons and two dates".
Cui Ye saw right through the act but chose not to make a fuss. After all, she only had to provide two meals a day for a family of four to secure a [Regret Pill] that locks all her negative status twenty-four hours; the price was incredibly reasonable. The four of them consisted only of the elderly and the very young, so they didn't eat much anyway. Cui Ye might not have had much else, but her supply of instant noodles was practically endless.
The two of them temporarily moved into the vacant master bedroom, but this was by no means a long-term solution. Living in the same space as Wang Zhiqiu made it completely impossible to deploy her Safe House or repair the damage it had sustained.
Moreover, storing food in this damp environment would shorten its shelf life, and there was still the unresolved trouble with the Dawn Guild to deal with. Continuing to stay here would likely disrupt the lives of Grandma Zhao’s family.
Chapter Notes:
By the time Cui Ye and her group finally made it back to their residential complex, the sky wasn't entirely dark yet. The news of their safe return spread rapidly through the community chat, causing the friend request list on He Fangzhou’s interface to instantly pile up into three digits.
With the first batch of people having successfully scouted the path, the other residents could no longer sit still. However, as the saying goes, "Once you pass this village, there won't be another inn". Judging by He Fangzhou’s demeanor, he had no intentions of venturing out again anytime soon.
Almost every single person who had gone out this time had sustained injuries. Although they had found supplies, earned gold coins, and even gathered some intel regarding the game, the resulting increase in their infection levels could not be ignored. The faces of the three most severely injured individuals had already swollen up on one side, and their wounds showed faint signs of festering.
Even though the four medical students in He Fangzhou’s crew had administered emergency treatment, the continuous exposure to the rain coupled with intense physical exertion caused their conditions to steadily worsen along the way. Fortunately, there were two pharmacies on the commercial street, providing a more than sufficient supply of anti-inflammatory drugs and bandages.
Even so, it still took a toll on their condition during the return journey. Had it not been for the presence of two talent-users within this eight-person squad, the team inevitably would have suffered casualties.
* * *
The corridor of Building 11.
Cui Ye had paddled all the way back, staying vigilant against water monster blockades to emerge completely unscathed. She had even safely navigated an encounter with a veteran player attempting to rob and silence them. Yet, as she climbed up to the fifteenth floor with a bursting backpack slung over her shoulders, Cui Ye felt as though she wasn't far from death.
Inside her backpack was the crate of instant noodles she’d found, various medicines that might come in handy, and supplies handed over by Wang Lei and Wang Wei. They wanted to thank her for stepping in to help multiple times—otherwise, they might not have made it back alive.
To Cui Ye, helping them was merely an incidental gesture. In their eyes, however, the [Linen Necklace] was a consumable item with limited durability—one less use with every activation. Only Cui Ye knew that it was an attribute item pulled directly from her [Walk-in Closet Safehouse], possessing zero durability loss whatsoever. She hadn't expected them to share the supplies they had risked their lives for just to thank her, so naturally, she accepted it gladly.
With great effort, she finally reached her rental apartment, only to find the anti-theft security door standing wide open and the floor entirely covered in footprints. Cui Ye instinctively reached for her boning knife. Following the footprints with her eyes, she looked toward her bedroom door, which had also been flung open. Someone had been inside. The bedroom door lock was warped out of shape, yet the apartment's main security door bore no signs of a break-in—giving its handle a gentle turn, she confirmed the lock was completely undamaged.
Her talent didn't trigger, and no danger notification appeared. Cui Ye’s eyes swept across the other two tightly shut bedroom doors, but her grip on the boning knife remained tight. It wasn't until a flurry of footsteps echoed from the floor above that she slowly turned, quietly slipping back toward the stairwell.
She saw a hunched, shifty shadow materialize against the stairwell wall. The person hadn't realized their movements were already exposed and was still hiding there, carefully shifting their steps. 'An ambush?'
Just as Cui Ye was about to slip her heavy backpack off, a head poked out from around the corner of the stairs. Across a dozen or so steps, their eyes locked. The person froze for a split second before jumping up, calling out happily, "Cui Ye!"
The person was Wang Zhiqiu. She had just seen the news in the group chat that Cui Ye’s group had made it back safely. The chat even featured a blurry photo taken from the upper floors; though grainy, you could clearly count eight people upon zooming in. Once she confirmed Cui Ye was safe, she had waited in the stairwell, terrified of missing her.
Wang Zhiqiu quickly filled her in on everything she had overheard while hiding in her bedroom two hours ago. She explained that a new group called the Dawn Guild had just cropped up in Building 11. Earlier that morning, Liu Yue had tried to borrow gold coins from her. When she was rejected, Liu Yue turned right around and brought the men from the guild inside to plunder the place.
"They went into your room but couldn't find any supplies. The guys Liu Yue brought along even started getting violent, but the very first blood-curdling scream I heard definitely came from a man. I thought Liu Yue had been driven to desperation, causing the whole pack of dogs to bite each other. But as I kept listening, something felt off. I bet that ghostly wailing and screaming could be heard by the entire building. I waited until they all left before I dared pack my bags and move upstairs. I only came out from Grandma Zhao’s place to wait for you after seeing the messages in the group chat."
Wang Zhiqiu paused, checking over her shoulder toward the upper stairs as if expecting someone to loom out of the shadows. She lowered her voice to a tense whisper before continuing.
"I suspect someone else had already broken into your room beforehand. Not only did they steal your things, but they also beat up and chased away the people Liu Yue brought. Right now, that person might still be inside your room. For safety's sake, we should just move over to Grandma Zhao’s place."
At any rate, Wang Zhiqiu didn't dare go back to live there. Who knew if that character hiding in the dark would pull a midnight ambush, or if that gang of bandits from the Dawn Guild would circle back with more people to retaliate?
Cui Ye listened quietly, having fully grasped the situation. She also realized the other party had completely misunderstood. Her room was empty because she had cleared it out herself, and the thing that had beaten and chased those people away wasn't a person at all—it was her Safe House. Since she planned to take the [Linen Necklace] with her, she had purchased a [Spiked Mace] from the game shop before heading out, equipping it to her offensive-type Safe House as a replacement. It seemed the results were quite decent.
Handing her heavy backpack over to her roommate, Cui Ye signaled for her to head upstairs first, promising she would be right back. Wang Zhiqiu wanted to stop her but knew she couldn't dissuade her. She stood at the stairwell entrance holding the bag, wracked with apprehension, until she saw Cui Ye return entirely unscathed a mere ten seconds later, clutching her toiletries. Only then did she finally let out a sigh of relief.
Hearing the commotion, Grandma Zhao pressed her face against the peephole. First glance: 'That profiteer named Cui had actually come back with all her limbs completely intact?' Second glance: 'What a massive, bulging backpack! There must definitely be a share for her family of four inside!' She threw the door open decisively.
Clutching her toiletries, Cui Ye stood in front of Unit 1601. She had barely knocked twice before the door swung wide. Looking up, she found Grandma Zhao's face shoved right into hers. Had she not recognized the old woman in time, the [Linen Necklace] would have already been looped around her neck.
"Next time, try not to jump out and scare people," Cui Ye offered as a piece of sincere advice. Fortunately, her eyesight was sharp and her hands steady; otherwise, Unit 1601 would be down a family member.
Hearing those words, the smile on Grandma Zhao’s face froze. The curse words that had leapt to her lips were forced right back down her throat. 'For the sake of that massive backpack, hmph! What an ill-mannered brat.'
Inside the apartment, Old Man Qin came out leaning on his walking stick, followed by his two grandchildren. The moment the two little ones saw Cui Ye, they immediately swarmed around her like puppies. Although they didn't know how their grandmother managed to persuade this person to send them food every single day, both of them knew exactly who gave them the snacks they ate every time.
As a few days had passed, the spoiled brats seemed to have grown significantly more sensible, no longer behaving as rudely as before. At the very least, when they saw her and Wang Zhiqiu, they knew to greet them and say hello before heading straight for the backpack.
Cui Ye: "..." They have manners, but not many.
She felt a tug on the hem of her shirt; it was the little girl. Compared to her twin brother, the older sister was far better behaved. However, her eyes were also flitting anxiously between Cui Ye and the bag.
According to Grandma Zhao’s logic, as long as her granddaughter acted a bit sweeter, said the right things, and played nice, she’d always manage to coax a few extra snacks out of people. Now that these two were moving in, shouldn't they pay a little something for lodging anyway? Her grandson had been craving that self-heating hotpot for ages.
Grandma Zhao might have been useless at everything else, but she possessed a knack for petty cunning. Knowing that Cui Ye was completely indifferent toward her precious grandson, she brought her granddaughter along instead, which always yielded "three melons and two dates".
Cui Ye saw right through the act but chose not to make a fuss. After all, she only had to provide two meals a day for a family of four to secure a [Regret Pill] that locks all her negative status twenty-four hours; the price was incredibly reasonable. The four of them consisted only of the elderly and the very young, so they didn't eat much anyway. Cui Ye might not have had much else, but her supply of instant noodles was practically endless.
The two of them temporarily moved into the vacant master bedroom, but this was by no means a long-term solution. Living in the same space as Wang Zhiqiu made it completely impossible to deploy her Safe House or repair the damage it had sustained.
Moreover, storing food in this damp environment would shorten its shelf life, and there was still the unresolved trouble with the Dawn Guild to deal with. Continuing to stay here would likely disrupt the lives of Grandma Zhao’s family.
Chapter Notes:
- "Once you pass this village, there won't be another inn." 过了这个村就没这个店了:Traditional idiom from a common proverb meaning "opportunity knocks but once" or "this is a limited-time offer."
- "Dog bites dog" 狗咬狗 : A harsh, derogatory phrase used to describe a conflict or infighting between equally corrupt, untrustworthy, or wicked people ("scum vs. scum").
- "Has manners, but not many." 有礼貌，但不多 : A popular internet meme on the Chinese social media used for deadpan anti-climaxes (e.g., "He is smart, but not much").
- "Three melons and two dates" 三瓜两枣 : A common slang used to describe a trivial, tiny amount of money, goods, or scraps.
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